Worship

One of the things we love to do when we gather as the body of Christ every week is to sing. We are told from Scripture that “… when (we) come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up” (1 Corinthians 14:26). We are also told to “let the word of Christ dwell in (us) richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in (our) hearts to God”. To this end, when song leaders choose songs for the congregation, they must be mindful that we sing songs with gospel focused content and that are congregation driven.

Gospel Focused Content

The songs must be true. In singing, we proclaim God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) to the world. We sing about who He is and what He has done for us. The songs we sing must accurately depict the one we are singing about. This means the first question to ask about a song is not whether the song “dey be” but whether the song speaks truth. Every song teaches something. A gospel song should teach the gospel. We often think of gospel as its own genre of music that we sometimes forget that ‘gospel’ should be a description of the content of the song. And that content should be Biblically accurate else it ceases to be gospel. We should ensure that we are proclaiming the truth about God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

The songs must be clear. The message of the song should not be confusing or muddled. This is because when we are together singing as the body of Christ, our primary goal should be building each other up as we await the coming of the Lord. So the congregation should be able to understand what is being said in the song. We should ensure that we are proclaiming the truth about God(Father, Son and Spirit) in a manner that is clearly understood. In that way we will be indeed teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts.

In a multi lingual community such as ours it is also important that the songs we sing is understood by all. This means providing translations to songs in cases that they are needed. The question then should be: is what we are singing clear and understood by the congregation? When picking that dope Joyous Celebration song, we should remember to get the translation of as well and either explain it or show the [insert appropriate language] translation to the congregation. This applies as well to our local language songs as well.

Congregation driven singingThe congregation can sometimes feel like a passive member of the service when it comes to singing. Instead of us singing together, it’s feels more like the choir or music group performing for the congregation.

The congregation should be able to hear the words of the song. This is a similar to the point about the content of our songs being clear. If the song is clear then we should sing it clearly. This is especially important for congregations where there is not the luxury of projecting the words of the song. That means the congregation learn the song based on what they hear so we should make sure that they can clearly hear what is being sung by singing clearly and pronouncing our words correctly. People will be more encouraged to sing if they can hear and understand what is sung.

The congregation should be able hear themselves sing. As good as having very good sound equipment is it can become a distraction when all the congregation can hear is the sound from the speakers and they can’t even hear the person next to them singing. It is always wonderful when the song leader tells those with amplified sounds (instrumentalists and vocalists) to keep silent for a moment and calls out for the congregation to sing. It almost seems like the congregation is encouraged to sing when they can hear the people around them singing as well. The sound mix during a congregational song should reflect the intent of singing to one another. It shouldn’t be so overpowering that the congregation is quite content to watch the choir perform for them since they can’t hear their involvement in the singing.

We shouldn’t let the innovations and technology we have in the areas of sound and instrumentation overshadow the joy of the people of God lifting their voices to him in praise and adoration for the wonderful things He has done for us. All these innovations should be used to enhance and improve on how we sing to each other in praise of our King. We should also make sure that what we sing is meaningful not only to those in church but to any outsiders who might be visiting the church as we teach them the truth of our Lord through our songs.

In the conversation with the woman by the well Jesus says: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (John 4:23)”. Jesus is the one who makes that possible. He says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)”. True worship is not centered around some special place, building or even a particular religious experience but around Jesus Christ.

True worship is impossible without the Holy Spirit

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.(John 4:24)”. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and point us to Jesus Christ. It is also the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live a life worthy of the gospel. A life where we worship God in everything that we do.

“Worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible” – David Peterson

On the 30th of July, 11am at Ridge Church Manet Youth Center, we will be having our second Acoustic Sessions dubbed “Worthship” where we will encouraging one another and reminding ourselves of what it means to worship God through music and poetry.